1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to connection flat electrical cables for power distribution of the type designed for undercarpet use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A known cable construction for such use is described in British Pat. No. 2,052,134. The cable has three flat conductors side by side in an electrically insulating casing. The outer conductors are the live and neutral conductors and the central conductor is the earth conductor. An electrical screen overlies the casing and, in order to be properly earthed, is connected intermittently to the central conductor by welding or riveting.
Such a construction has a number of disadvantages, the main one of which is the difficulty of splicing or tapping into the cable in situ. For splicing, the complex arrangement of British Pat. No. 2,053,586 is proposed which has separate tags to connect the individual conductors. For tapping in a power take-off, the arrangement of European Patent Application No. 844413 can be adopted, but this is not easy to fit in the field owing at least in part to the need to cut a careful shape out of the earthing screen.
Another disadvantage arises from the sharp edges that can be formed on the sides of the cable and ways of alleviating this are discussed in British Pat. No. 2,052,134.
It would be desirable to provide a flat cable that overcame these disadvantages.